Can't think of a good headline for this post

Hello friends and family.

We didn't receive the best news today so we could sure use all the prayers , positive vibes and good thoughts we can get. The day was foreshadowed early Tuesday morning by a visit from Dr. Yaszemski who gave Karl the worst case scenario. He told him the mass on his 3rd lumbar could be a metastatic tumor from his sarcoma two years ago and if that was the case, they would do a cryoabrasion of the tumor. That means they'd freeze it and get rid of it and then Karl would have to undergo chemotherapy again. The good news is that is a very small, 1 cm tumor. The bad news is that it is wrapped up in all the nerves again and could possibly lead to more loss of function. The worse news is that the biopsy report came back late this afternoon and it is, indeed, a malignant tumor -- a peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma as it was before.

Dr. Y, however, said the major concern right now was the decubitus ulcer. If they don't take care of it Karl could develop a staff infection, which could lead to his demise. The concern is that they need to remove the rods, pins and screws that harbor any kind of infection. Dr. Y doesn't believe the donor bones they put in two years ago have meshed with the lumbar spin and pelvis. That means Karl will have more loss of function.

Needless to say, we've all been pretty upset today with the news. The nurses and physicians have been hugging on Karl and Mom and have told them they will do their level best to do whatever they can for the best outcome. One by one they've filtered in to offer hugs and support. It's amazing.

In the meantime, Karl called this evening, very upbeat, to tell me an oncologist stopped in to offer him another alternative. He mentioned the cyberknife, which may give them the time he needs to heal from his decubitus. The oncologist said that because the tumor is so small, they have a 6-month to 1 year window and the cyberknife could give them just the right amount of time to get it done.

No concrete plans for surgery have been discussed with Karl, but we're sure it will happen sooner rather than later. We know Karl is in the very capable and caring hands and we're encouraged and hopeful.

We know you've been concerned and praying, but we know the more prayers Karl gets, the better off he'll be. We've seen it happen before and we know just how good God is.

Love and blessings,

Kerry